UAV is an aircraft controlled either by a pilot at a ground station or by on-board computers. Payloads are one of the important components in the UAVs. These payloads comprise various equipment, depending on the mission requirement. UAV market is segmented on the basis of the type of payload. They are radar, electro-optic, electronic warfare, C4, and sonar.

UAVs are widely used in commercial, civil, and military market due to its low-cost. Military forces majorly use UAVs to carry out missions that were considered unsafe with manned aircraft. They are mostly used by the military forces across the world for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. UAVs are also used by commercial users in wildlife research, photography, and oil and gas industries. The agriculture industry uses UAVs to help farmers complete their work in specific time. These factors have a greater impact in the market during the forecast period.

Small UAVs are used for commercial and civil purposes such as wildlife research, photography, and agriculture. Introduction and customization of UAVs in the commercial market increase steadily, owing to their low operational cost and lesser time consumption.

For example, the production of oil and gas requires continuous checking of pipelines to ensure safety and effectiveness in operation. This checking of pipelines can be carried out with the help of digital cameras mounted on small UAVs. They can also be used to perform geophysical surveys, which help geophysicists indicate the location of mineral deposit civil. Moreover the advancements in technology have led to introduction of new generation UAVs such as medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAVs, miniature UAVs, and man-portable UAVs.

The drawback of not able to transmit or receive signals increases the chances of collision with commercial flights. In the event of a crash, these vehicles pose huge threat to person and property. Moreover UAVs hacking using GPS signals, where the vehicle can be controlled by terrorists or anti-social elements, thereby risking human life.

The introduction of AAS has drastically reduced the number of personnel required for the operation of UAVs. Traditional UAVs required various personnel for the monitor and control whereas with AAS, a single person can monitor various UAVs at once. For example, the Hummingbird UAVs.

According to the study, Global UAV payload market expected to be growing at a faster pace in North America, then by AsiaPacific and Europe. The US is spending a huge amount on the global UAV payload market, in which more focus is given to enhance UAV radar and communication capabilities, accordingly by sensors and detection, and weaponry payloads. The Middle East region spending on UAV payloads is estimated to be above 6.5% share of global spending in the forecast period.

The U.S. generated the most of the revenue in the year 2015 in the global UAV payload and avionics industry among all the regions, on the other hand, India has the maximum potential to grow in the forecast period.

Growing military UAV activities, along with growing entertaining and marketable application of UAVs has opened up bigmarket for the UAV payloads. The existence of most important UAV and payload merchants in the U.S. has made UAV market more dominating as compared to other regions.

Countries from the European area are initiating on transforming regulations regarding the usage of UAVs in marketable applications and have led to the expansion of the global UAVs and payload market in the region. Asia Pacific region is likely to grow as a beneficial area for UAV payload market with important countries such as India and China, which are likely to invest more in commercial UAS and military.

Most of the vendors have to focus on global footprint network, in-house manufacturing capabilities, product offerings, investment in R&D, and a strong client base, to gain an edge over competitors. Global economic recovery, increased R&D activities, orders for new unmanned aircraft, growth in the aviation sector, investments on fuel-efficient engines, and lucrative retrofit market will provide further scope for players in the industry.

In case of Boeing military aircraft, engages in the manufacture; R&D; Modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft, and weapons systems for global strikes. These consist of fighter aircraft and missile systems; vertical lift such as rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and mobility, surveillance, and engagement systems such as battle management, anti-submarine, airborne, transport, and tanker aircraft which is well-established player in this market.